Primaluna EVO 400 Amps/Preamp lacking bass impact

Yes.  Primaluna recommends trying the different taps to hear which one works best.  I use the 4 ohm taps on my Kantas.  

@kennyc 

Maybe a tad of both, mostly a bit more bass energy; Is it okay to run the Kanta no3 on 4 ohm tap of amp?

I have never been disappointed in my smaller EVO 100 integrated for sustained bass like organ,Tuba, or the punch of a large drum.

What I have noticed is a significant increase in lower bass notes, and attack with JJKT77 outputs. I do not need a sub with my speakers in the current room.

If the subs are set correctly they don't get in the way of the mains.

It's all in the setup.

all tube amplifiers will have a low damping factorel34s don't have the current delivery of a kt88 or 6550

adding a sub is not the answer a good sub adds pressure to the leading and trailing notes of the mains 

you have a few options tube roll or add a solid state amplifier

we are a focal dealer if that helps

Dave and Troy

audio intellect nj

Focal dealer

or upgrade to a tune amplifier with balls or a hybrid

I found the original EL34's in the HP Mono  Blocks I use were missing too much. I  am driving ATC SCM19s that have a flat impedance curve with very little damping problems. I skipped the lesser tubes when I decided to roll and went directly to KT150s. What a difference! They've been in there going on six years and still sound fine.

After I finally got the speakers positioned properly the bass is crisp and fully present. Full disclosure: I added two REL T/7i subs to pick up the very low end that the SCM-19s don't extend to.

Rock, Jazz, Big Band, Blues, Reggae, Zydeco, Female and Male Vocals are all tonally balanced. I've heard a lot of live music and this setup does an excellent reproduction. Plenty of bass.

…lacking bass impact…

just to be clear, is the OP looking for more bass energy or a tighter bass definition?

I have PrimaLuna Mono’s mated to a Dennis Had Inspire preamplifier. I have tons of bass, even while driving Electrostatics. I have no idea why you don’t. My thinking is, the issue isn’t the Mono’s!

@stobbe in my room I ended up 36" from the wall.

how far from the wall did you end up with?

both switchers are a great idea. SVS told me just to use a Y adapter from preamp SE out- 2 male RCA to one female and run that to R Line-in and keep the LFE on the L line in (either way actually) then just setup a 2 profiles on the sub. 

I concur on speaker positioning. Even a few inches away from the wall can make a world of difference. I too have Kanta 3s and it took a lot of experimenting to nail it.

the only issue with using the RCA preamp out to the SUB, is the LFE is shared, so would have to unplug and change cables for movies. unless I am missing something.

One solution is install a line level A/B switcher

Or an Audio Activated Line-Level Automatic switcher.

Thank you @jimmy2615 

Since I posted, we tightened up the stands that were a bit loose and moved the speakers back to 30" from the wall and bass is better. 

the only issue with using the RCA preamp out to the SUB, is the LFE is shared, so would have to unplug and change cables for movies. unless I am missing something. 

they sound better and most likely will not bother with the sub for music listening.. 

Thank you Rick.  I appreciate most when people can offer comparisons of different gear they’ve tried, otherwise you have to try it for yourself or you’ll never know.  That’s one thing (of many) that’s sad about the demise of the B&M stores …. A good dealer should be able to tell you what works with what.  Good reviewers also - for example, I appreciate when someone like Herb from Stereophile reviews an amplifier.  He’ll report on how it sounds with each speaker he has.

I have no skin in the game to respond to this ask. I would however like to give major props to @jimmy2615 for offering such a thoughtful reply. There are really some wonderful folks helping each other out. I’ve always been interested in the Primaluna gear and love the way it sounds in my friends listening room and that’s the reason I dropped into this thread. I have Focal’s in my main room and really enjoy them. I hope the OP can sort out what he’s looking for. Good luck and cheers.

The amp damping factor could be a significant source of this lack of bass definition.

From a Hi-Fi World review of the EVO 400:

"Output impedance measured 
2.3Ω, giving a damping factor of 3.4 in 
Ultralinear mode. Surprisingly, figures 
were a tad better in Triode mode at 2Ω
and 3.8. Both are ‘poorer’ figures than 
that of transistor amplifiers, but really this 
is dependent upon loudspeaker acoustic 
damping. "

This low damping factor would result in less control of the speakers at low frequencies compared to an amp with a higher damping factor. The NAD M23, for example, has a damping factor >800.

The only tubes I’ve enjoyed bass from are KT88 and KT120. I owned and sold a Prima Luna integrated because of this lack. Oth the PassLabs XA25 had vice like grip on my PMC Twenty26 speakers at the time.

I have used the XLR outs to the amplifiers and SE outs to subwoofers with no problem.

I have the same setup, Focal Kanta 3 with Evo 400 preamp but with Evo300 monoblocks.

First off, you are going to get some replies that Primaluna has plenty of bass. I agree with this. However, I don’t disagree with you that the Primaluna could have ‘more bass’. But I believe that this is NOT in quantity, but speed. Sustained bass notes (like from that of organ pedals) will have plenty of pitch definition and heft. But the initial attack, or transient speed, may be lacking compared to some other amps. For instance, I also have an NAD M23 Class D amplifier here, which when paired to the Evo400 preamp has faster bass, and when paired to another fully solid state preamp has even faster bass. So I believe part of the ‘problem’ is the preamp as well. For most music, the primalunas are completely sufficient for my tastes in the bass department. For some other music, like with drum kit and faster transients, I prefer some solid state in the mix. And solid state amp and preamp is faster still. I don’t think subwoofers will change much of any of this. Tube rolling won’t change much either. Actually, for bass speed I think the EL34s are as good or better than any of the other tubes I have tried, which includes KT-66,77. 6L6GC are even slower.

For further comparison, I also happen to have a Denon integrated amp here that has -less- speed than the Primalunas as far as bass goes, so some solid state amps may be slower than the Primalunas. Lastly, I once had the previous version (dialogue) HP series (I.e., 8 power tubes per amp like the evo400) with KT120s driving Magico A3 speakers. This combination was s-l-o-w in the bass speed. So I believe speaker choice has a lot to do with it as well. The Kanta’s work very well with the Primalunas.  When I first bought my dialogue series, I had heard them at a dealer paired with Vandersteen Treo speakers, and the bass was excellent.  In fact, I brought in a class D integrated amplifier to compare (Jeff Rowland) which was much more powerful, but was boring in comparison with these speakers and had no more bass.  So again, I think speaker pairing and synergy is important.  As I said, from my experience the Kantas are a great match with Primaluna.  If you find them lacking, you might try playing more with speaker positioning.  If that doesn’t work, try some solid state gear to hear if there is an improvement.